Young golfers cop provincial junior titles

BEN EOIN — Owen Mullen lived up to his billing as one of the top teenage golfers in the province as he captured the 2020 Jaguar Land Rover Junior Boys golf championship at The Lakes golf course in Ben Eoin.

The 16-year-old Truro golfer fired a final-round two-under par 70 to finish the three-day tournament at one-under par with a total score of 215, six strokes better than runner-up Mark Chandler, 18, of Chester. Rory White of Halifax's Ashburn golf club finished third, eight strokes behind the winner.

It was as welcome outcome for Mullen who lost the 2019 championship to Chandler in a three-hole playoff.

The top Cape Breton golfer was Liam Brann, a Lakes member, who shot rounds of 75, 82 and 75 for sixth place at the tournament that wrapped up Friday. A. J. Ley, of Seaview, was the next best local player as he shot 85, 79 and 79 to finish tied for 13th place.

Ashburn's Benjamin Childs (76, 76, 73) won the juvenile boys (under-17) division by nine strokes over clubmate Dimitri Mihelakos. The host club's Liam Robertson edged out Seaview's Charlie MacMillan as top local golfer in the division.

On the girls side of play, Ashburn's 15-year-old Abbey Baker claimed both the overall championship and the juvenile division crown after shooting a three-day total of 235 (75, 86, 76), four strokes better than her 18-year-old sister Haley, who was awarded the under-19 division title.

Olivia Seamen of Ken Wo Golf and Country Club captured the bantam (under-15) girls division.